Rewrite: A Family Forgotten
by Dreamwind1
Summary: HP/ABVH  The war is over, Voldemort is dead and Harry is running from the Ministries newest plot. Will he run from the fire into an inferno? Or will his forgotten family douse the flames?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Email:** Rating: R-NC17  
**Status:** WIP Part: 1/?  
**Prequel:** none  
**Characters:** OMC- Eldwyn and Tristen  
**Spoilers:** All the way through Deathly Hallows, minus that crap-tastic epilogue. And starting during Blue Moon for the Anita Blake series.  
**Author's Notes:** So I am rewriting this story to read a bit smoother. I decided there were just a few too many things buggin' me about the plots. So I have decided to cut the plot revolving around Harry's cat Bastet, as such she will no longer appear in the story. Also the timeline is being adjusted so Harry will be an adult and the ABVH timeline will be in the earlier part of the series ( before it went to pot).

**Chapter 1**

**July 28, 1998; British Ministry of Magic**

The Ministry was like a madhouse. Reporters and ministry workers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. It was a disturbing mental image so close to the end of the war. Too many people had died and not all of them had been killed through the quick painless method of The Killing Curse.

Every time he closed his eyes all he could see was the green lawn in front of Hogwarts stained red with the blood of Death Eaters and students alike. It was something he would never be able to forget as long as he lived.

He wanted nothing more than to Oblivate himself and just forget all about the war and the people he had lost to it. But then that little voice in the back of his mind, the one that sounded so much like Dumbledore, would ask him in that airy-happy-go-lucky voice, if he could really just forget all those people who truly cared about him. If he could really make their sacrifices worthless.

There were nights, alone in the rubble of Gordic's Hollow, when he would answer that voice, saying yes, he could go on living if only to have peace in his head at last but then the morning would come and guilt would set in, ten-fold.

This wasn't the life he had envisioned for himself at the end of the war.

He'd always dreamed of maybe going to college with Hermione, or maybe to Auror Academy with Ron, then getting a nice job and marrying a nice girl like Luna and having some kids. A normal life.

Not a life surrounded by reporters, hangers on, and fellow veterans who, like him, were trapped living in the past, where good friends and loved ones were still alive and smiling. Where all you had to worry about was how many papers you had to write for class the next day or how many points were lost in Potions class.

What his life was now, he wanted no part of but he realized to get away from it, he would have to leave England. Leave the ghosts of the past and the faded visions of a future that would never be.

He wanted a life!

**~*~*~*~* Office of Family and ****Bloodline**** Services *~*~*~*~**

"Hey Eldwyn! Come and look at this."

Eldwyn MacLeod leaned out from behind a tower of old parchments that were nearly reaching the ceiling, which was a good seven feet above his head. "What do you have there, Tristen?"

For the last six days, 19 hours, and 47 minutes, Tristan Beckerly and Eldwyn Macleod had been trapped inside the old record office of the Family and Bloodline Service Department at the Ministry of Magic.

With the war over and so many people dead, the Ministry had found it necessary to reinstate an old law regarding birth rates. Apparently when the number of children dropped too dramatically, the Ministry would force all purebloods and halfbloods to conceive a child with a muggleborn or another halfblood, whose family was separated from their own by at least five generations. The law was necessary because if left on their own, wizards would fail to increase their numbers at all which would be disastrous.

This is where the Office of Family and Bloodline Services came in. They were required to draw up a list of all men and women of pure and halfblood origin, that were legally old enough and medically healthy enough to have children, then make another list that matched them with the appropriate breeding partners that met the criteria set by the law.

If someone was already married or had a legally binding betrothal, they were immediately removed from the first list and added to yet another list. From that list, Tristan or Eldwyn were required to contact the couples and coax them to produce at least one child from another person not their partner and of either half-blood or muggleborn status. Those who agreed, were given compensation to raise the child or had the option of placing it up for adoption.

The sheer amount of parchment, Bloodline Tapestries and books in the room were only a quarter of the total amount needed, but they rose like musty, dust covered mountains all throughout the room. It was a normally underfunded and forgotten department within the Ministry. Its only regular job was to verify that people being married were not joining into an incestuous relationship. Hence the reason the two young wizards were trapped in a tiny (well tiny in the sense that there really wasn't very many spaces between stacks of old records) room sorting out the bloodlines of families, including both legitimate and ill-legitimate children, when they really needed about four times the space and ten times the employees.

"It's the bloodline records for 'The Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter.' Can you believe that! I had no idea the Potters were one of the ancient houses!"

"Let me see!"

The two heads, one golden blonde, the other a dark chocolate-y brown, bent over the large, elaborate parchment containing a magically updating bloodline of the Potter family.

"Great Merlin! Tristan, this is one of the most elaborate bloodline scrolls I've ever seen!" Eldwyn pointed at a section of the bloodline. "Look here, it even follows the bloodlines of the squibs born from the Potter line!"

"Not too many family lines in the Potter bloodline started with a squib."

"I know! There are only three children that were born squibs in the last eight generations. That's almost unheard of in the old pureblood families!"

"They all seem to be the formation of one main line too. The rest of the family marrying into that line seem to be muggles."

As the two continued to look over the list, it slowly started to sink in that Harry Potter, who was supposed to have the Dursley family as his only living blood relatives, did in fact have family. The family may only be a line of squibs and muggles but they were still within four generations of the main Potter line.

"Do you think we should tell Mr. Potter what we found?"

Eldwyn swallowed and looked back down at the scroll. The Harry Potter he remembered from school would definitely want to know that he had family still living. "Yes. It's his right to know." 

***~*~*~*~British Ministry of Magic~*~*~*~***

It was never a good sign to be summoned back into the bowels of the ministry before you could even leave. The only good thing about the summons was it had no dangerous wording, hidden demands or court summons and it was sent from Eldwyn Macleod a person Harry could just remember from school.

If Harry remembered correctly, Eldwyn had been a Hufflepuff, three years ahead of Harry. He was nice enough, like all Hufflepuffs, but still fairly forgettable in the long run.

Running his hands back through his messy black hair, Harry pulled the letter out of his pocket and looked back down at it again. 'Damn, these lifts are taking forever,' he thought. The paper crinkled in his hand, drawing his attention to it again. Lifting it up, he read...

_**Harry, **__****_

_**I found something that I think might make you very happy. Please come down to the Office of Family and Bloodline Services. It's next to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office.**__****_

_**Eldwyn Macleod**_

The familiar melodic voice of the elevator told him he'd finally arrived at his destination. Stuffing the note back in his pocket, he stepped from the elevator and made his way down a hallway, avoiding the enchanted paper airplanes, owls and even a few flying waffle irons.

The waffle irons were, of course, being chased by a few ministry officials. Shaking his head at the sight, he continued on until he reached the door he was looking for, wedged into the farthest back corner of the hallway. It was as unassuming as any he had ever seen with the lettering on the nameplate, on the wall next to the door, beginning to fade.

As Harry stepped through the open doorway, the sound of something very thick and very heavy hitting the floor made him jump back a step. Blinking, Harry gaped stupidly at the pile of old parchments that had landed in front of him. A bright spot of sage green among the parchment caught his attention and reaching in among the papers, he pulled the person buried under them out. A young man with golden hair and eyes just slightly paler than the green of his robes stared at Harry.

"H-H-Harry Potter!"

"That's my name."

"Oh! Um….I…I'm Tristan Beckerly."

Harry nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "Hello Tristan Beckerly. I was called down here by Eldwyn Macleod?"

"Eldwyn? Oh!" Tristan dusted himself off then turned around, beckoning Harry to follow him. "He's back here! You won't believe what we found!"

Harry just nodded, trailing after the hyper young man through the mountains and towers of paper and scrolls. Another doorway appeared behind a rather tall pile of paper that was leaning precariously to the left. Behind the door was a small room about the size of a walk-in closet. There was a desk also covered in a small pile of paper behind which he could see a head of chocolate brown hair.

"Eldwyn! Harry Potter is here!"

Eldwyn's head snapped up, his eyes massive behind the coke-bottle like glasses. Although Harry was sure they weren't actual glasses but something more like a microscope. He had, after all, seen Hermione wear a similar pair once when she was studying some fine print.

"Harry, I'm glad you could come. Tristan here found your family's scroll."

"Really? So you want me to make babies with someone?"

"What? No! I just thought you might like to see what we found."

"Eldwyn, I appreciate it, but I really need to be going. Professor McGongall was waiting to meet me for lunch."

"I understand, but I really think you should see this! You do in fact still have living relatives." Eldwyn pulled the goggles off, setting them on the desk.

"I am aware of the Dursley family, Eldwyn. I grew up in their house."

"I am not referring to the Dursley's."

Harry gave Eldwyn an almost freezing, skeptical gaze. It made a lump form in Eldwyn's chest and reminded him, he wasn't dealing with just any wizard. This was Harry Potter, the Master of Death.

"We were looking at your family's bloodline scroll and noticed the Dursley's weren't your only living relatives." Eldwyn spun the scroll in his hands around to face Harry and pointed to the branch he had been studying.

Harry frowned then looked down, tracing the lines of his family all the way from Egypt in what was now the British Isles. What he saw left him damn near speechless. "I-I have relatives?"

"Yes! If you look here..." Eldwyn pointed to a line of names "...this group shows where your family branched off. Eldvarea Potter was a squib, the sister of your many times great grandfather. She married another squib, Alexander Prewitt."

"I'm related to Molly Weasly?"

"Well…only very distantly. Anyway, Eldvarea and her husband had six children, four boys and two girls. Three of the sons and one of the girls all married and had children. These children like their parents and grandparents were squibs. Eldvarea's grandchildren left Britain, three went to Spain, two went to Japan, one to China, three to Austraila, and the last five went to the Americas. Those last five children set up families there and mostly married muggles, although one did marry back into the Potter line." Eldwyn took a breath. "They carried the Potter name until the last one, a woman, married. She is still alive and has several children. All of whom still live in the US."

"Are any of them magical?"

"There is one son,..." Eldwyn scrolled through the names on the list "...Richard, who is a werewolf and another son named Daniel, who does have some magic, although not enough to be trained at Salem or any of the other Wizarding schools. He is what the yanks call a 'sensitive' in that he can get vague impressions of when there is something or someone magical near him."

"So why are you telling me this, Eldwyn? I am fairly sure that you are supposed to be cataloging who I am allowed to have children with once the Ministry really starts to harass me."

Eldwyn blushed, but continued to look Harry in the eyes. "The law only states that if you are living in Britain and are a British Wizarding Citizen that you need to produce at least one child. Your family lives in the states and you could certainly go there and apply for dual magical citizenship. The American Wizarding Council is pretty small in comparison to Britian. Not too many were willing to go across the pond with the Muggle sailors and as such they are fairly small in number. However, they do have a much larger number of specialized magical beings, like Telepaths, Necromancers, Elemental Shamans and Wiccans. And these communities are not considered citizens of the American Wizarding Country, but they are known to the muggles."

Harry blinked rapidly and swallowed. There were so many thoughts, emotions, plans and ideas running through his head at all the new information. It was a lot to take in but what sang in him the most was the fact here was a way for him to escape the latest Ministry farce and meet some long forgotten family all at once and it wouldn't cost him his friends or jail time.

"Wicked." Harry breathed...a broad smile spreading across his face.

"Yeah, it really kinda is. Just remember, things over there are really different than they are here. The yanks allowed the Muggles to learn that some magics are real and so are vampires and werewolves. The vampires and such are legal, so the Muggle Aurors know to check for magic at crime scenes, and if they catch you using magic to defend yourself, it'll likely be an automatic death sentence."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: A Family Forgotten  
**Author: **Dreamwind  
**Rating:** R to NC-17

**Status:** WIP  
**Relationship: ****Harry/Jamil/Snape****  
****Characters:**Harry Potter, Charlotte Zeeman, Daniel Zeeman, Richard Zeeman, Jamil, ShangDa  
**Word count: ****4086**  
**Disclaimer: ****I do not own the Harry Potter or Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books & movies. All rights and profits are property of J.K. Rowling, the Warner Brothers Studio and Laurell K Hamilton.**  
**Genre: **Horror/Suspense, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Action/Adventure  
**Tropes: ****powerful!Harry, creature!Harry**  
**Warnings:** slight Anita bashing, AU, M/M, slash, threesome, angst, violence, language

**Universe/Series:** Harry Potter Novels/Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novels

**Timeline:** Post DH for Harry Potter, minus the Epilogue; Before & during Blue Moon for ABVH series  
**Additional Pairings: ****Anita/Jean-Claude**, Anita/Richard  
**Summary: **[HP/ABVH Crossover] The war is finally over and Harry finally thinks he's free. But with power that wasn't his comes many problems including the revealing of family that he never knew he had. How can he deal with new family, vampires, necromancers, were's and of course the truth about Snape and the night on the astronomy tower.

**Chapter 2****  
**

**June 29, 1998; Westard Law Offices**

Charlotte Zeeman considered herself a strong, well-balanced woman who didn't get shook up by trivial things. This however was not a trivial thing. Family was never trivial.

"Mrs. Zeeman?"

Charlotte focused again on the man sitting behind the large mahogany desk. He looked to be around 90 perhaps a little older. His tan skin was wrinkled but he didn't manage to look like a prune, in fact the wrinkles showed just how kind a man he was. They were deepest around his eyes and mouth, revealing a personality that was prone to smiling and laughing. His short cropped hair was almost pure white making his twinkling blue eyes all the brighter. He looked so much older than he had when she had seen him at her father's funeral.

"Sorry, I was just a little shocked is all."

"Quiet alright. Would you like me to continue then?"

"Yes, please do."

"Of course." The lawyer, a Mr. Alphered Westard, shuffled the papers around a bit more until he found the one he wanted. "Here we go. We received this letter approximately two days ago." Mr. Westard handed the letter to her. "It is from a Mr. Macleod who works for the British Ministry's Department of Family and Bloodline Services. Which apparently was created about four hundred years ago to trace back family bloodlines to help prevent inbreeding amongst the nobles."

Charlotte nodded, remembering from high school history just how often the old nobility of Europe used to intermarry.

"Mr. Macleod found a record which has been regularly updated and as he was going through it he found that besides the family heir, a young Mr. Harry Potter, you and your boys are some of the last descendants of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Now that might not mean a whole lot to many of the remaining nobles in Britain, but it might mean something to you."

"I really have no interest in becoming some fancy blue blood, Mr. Westard."

"I'm sure you don't, Mrs. Zeeman. That is not why we were contacted nor is it why you are in this office."

Charlotte could feel the vein in her forehead begin to throb. "Then why am I here, Mr. Westard?"

"You are here Mrs. Zeeman because the young man I mentioned, Harry Potter, has recently reached adulthood and learned about his father's family from Mr. Macleod. Until now he was under the impression that his mother's sister and her family were the only family he had left and from what I have gathered, his maternal family did not care properly for the boy, although there are no reports of abuse from what I could find. Mr. Macleod has let me know that Mr. Potter's friends have long suspected that his relatives, at a minimum, verbally abused him and may have been withholding food. They have also advised they had seen bars on his bedroom window and numerous locks on the outside of his bedroom door, even a doggie door cut into it."

Charlotte could feel her jaw drop. Someone responsible for the safety and well being of a child of her family had possibly been abusing them! It was unthinkable!

"Mr. Potter has contacted me as well to see if I could speak with you and your family about allowing him to visit you. Mr. Potter has advised me that he is planning to move to the states for a while and he would like to live near to family if possible, although he hasn't as of yet located a house for himself. As such we were contacted in the hopes that you or one of your boys would be willing to take Harry in for a short while until he could either acquire his own place or until he could find a hotel to stay in."

"Of course. You may tell my nephew Harry that he will be welcome in my home for as long as he likes. I'm sure he will get along just fine with my boys."

**~*~*~*~*August 2, 1998 Gordic's Hollow, England *~*~*~*~****  
**  
While most of his parent's home was still standing it was scarred with deep black scorches, splinters of shattered furniture, broken vases, cracked frames and many other reminders of the battle that had taken place here almost nineteen years ago.

While his parents had not stayed around as ghosts, he could still feel their presence here in the choice of color, the books and even the few broken remains of a small golden snitch. It was a sad place and nearly had the feeling of a tomb to it. No one had stepped foot in here until he had during that long quest to destroy the Horocrux that Voldemort had left behind.

He wasn't sure why he stayed here when it only seemed to remind him of what he'd lost and left his heart feeling as if it was clenched in a vise. He could certainly join Kreacher back at Number 12. The old elf would love that. He was constantly complaining to Harry that he didn't have enough work to do while Harry was hiding in the dirty ruins of his parent's home.

"Hoot. Hoot."

Harry turned, looking to where the small gray owl had landed. It wasn't his owl nor was it Ron's. The owl hooted urgently again and shoved it's leg in his direction. Harry reached out and took the proffered letter from the owl's leg.

_**Mr. H. Potter,**__****_

_**I have recently received your letter and spoken to the daughter of my former client, Mr. Harley Potter. As she and her sons are your blood relatives, I have informed them of your request. Mrs. Zeeman welcomes you and wishes you to stay with them in their home while you are in the country. She and her family are eagerly awaiting your arrival. I have enclosed a plane ticket to St. Louis leaving on the 5th of this month. Please do not feel as if you are obligated to my clients in any way.**__****_

_**Sincerely, **__****_

_**Mr. Alphered Westard**_

Harry smiled and folded the letter back up, sticking it in his pocket. Eldwyn had done a great deal of research on Charlotte Zeeman and her family in order to make sure that Harry wouldn't be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

From what Eldwyn had discovered, the family was so squeaky clean it made his teeth hurt. There was only one ticket amongst the lot of them and that only happened when the oldest son's wife went into labor and the man panicked, speeding all the way to the hospital. Besides that and the werewolf school teacher, the family was so very different from the Dursley's that it made Harry a bit nervous.

What if Eldwyn had missed something . . . But what if he hadn't? So many 'what if's' it made Harry's head spin but he couldn't hide here in these ruins all summer. And all things considered, he really did want to go to St. Louis and meet his Aunt Charlotte and her family.

**~*~*~*~*August 5th, 1998; London Heathrow Airport*~*~*~*~******

After three hours sitting on a rather uncomfortable, leather, sling-backed chair in a large room about the size of Hogwarts ground floor, surrounded by hundreds of loud, obnoxious people jabbering away at each other, their conversations broken occasionally by the static voice calling for people to begin boarding, Harry felt as if he finally understood what drove people into homicidal rages.

Maybe he should have let Bill get him set up with a portkey to the wizarding section of the St. Louis airport. _'It's too late for that now.' _Harry ran his hands through his hair. _'Bugger it. Next time I am definitely using an international portkey.'_

It was Harry's first time at an airport and would be his first time on a plane as well. That had been his main reason for deciding not to use the offered portkey. It had nothing to do with the instincts of fear that portkeys now instilled in him...nope, no fear of portkeys . . . note the sarcasm?

The only thing he had originally been frustrated with was how long the flight would be and worried about becoming bored to death. Fortunately, he had wonderful friends who had pitched in to make sure that wouldn't happen.

Bill and Charlie had put charms over all his books so that any muggles looking at them would see normal school texts. '_Quite handy, really. 'Mionie would have thought of it too.' _The thought brought a sharp sting of pain to his heart that he quickly pushed away. He had grieved for his lost loved ones once, he wouldn't now. It would dishonor them and he knew, better than anyone, that he would see them again one day.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given him several blank journals that he could write in that they had Bill charm so that only he could add to them or read in them. The Granger's had given Harry several of Hermione's old paperbacks, many photos of her with Ron and himself, as well as her diskman and several CDs.

Professor McGonagall had given him a photo album that already had several pages of pictures of him and his friends, along with several of his teachers, all obviously taken without any of their knowledge. Probably by Colin.

Hagrid's gift was one that might not get used as he intended. His rock cakes really lived up to their names and would be a suitable weapon if needed. 'It's pretty sad that I can figure out how food stuffs and anything else in my bag, could be used as an improvised weapon.'

Currently Hedwig was in a plastic carrier waiting to be loaded on the plane they were to take to St. Louis. Harry wasn't sure which of them were going to have it worse on the flight but he was sure Hedwig would let her displeasure be known once she was out of the owl carrier.

The baby in the arms of the woman three seats to his left began to scream bloody murder again and Harry had the sudden overwhelming urge to cast a Silencio on it. The cargo hold was starting to look pretty good if he was going to have to deal with that baby and all these other people for the next several hours.

**~*~*~*~*~Same time; St Louis~*~*~*~*~****  
**  
Daniel stood safely off to the side of the room, watching his mother running about the small room in a sort of quiet panic. She had been acting this way ever since the date of Harry Potter's arrival had been finalized.

She had been going non-stop trying to make Richard's old room seem a bit more welcoming and less like the preserved space of a grown up son that it had been. Daniel had been roped into helping paint the room in a warm shade of yellow, while his sister and oldest brother's wife had been sent to get new bedding. Apparently it wasn't safe to send their father or any of the boys in his mother's mind, after all only God knew what they would come back with.

The new sheets were a shade of warm gold, much like the walls. The blanket and pillow shams were all a rich shade of burgundy with golden leaf patterns running down the center and golden stripes around the sides. New curtains in the same red were quickly bought and hung as well. All-in-all the room looked nothing like it had before. Hopefully this Harry Potter would appreciate all the trouble Daniel and his family had gone through to try to make the boy's stay all the more comfortable and inviting.

His mother had even gone so far as to call Richard back from Tennessee long enough to at least spend one day with their new cousin before she would let him head back. Daniel wasn't really sure what she hoped to accomplish by doing that. If Harry was going to be moving to St Louis, he would have more than enough time to meet Richard without needing to interrupt Richard while he was still trying to pretend breaking up with Anita hadn't completely broken his heart.

Daniel really hoped this wasn't all going to end balls up. He wanted to think that everything would be fine, the kid wouldn't be as much damaged goods as his mother had hinted at. Like her, Daniel couldn't understand how anyone could abuse a child in their care and he didn't like to think that what his mother had been circling around the last few days could have happened to someone in his family, even if they were only distantly related.

If it was true...Daniel wasn't sure what they would do. Richard among all his brothers was likely to be the most overly protective and not just because of the animal instincts his brother seemed to be constantly fighting. He worked with kids and so his brother always seemed to be hyper aware of what was going on with them.

***~*~*~*~Aboard the flight from London~*~*~*~*****  
**  
The flight had been almost as bad as he had thought it would be. While there hadn't been any crying babies, and the movie had been decent, he had been seated next to an older woman who just couldn't stop talking about her newest grandchild.

While it hadn't been that bad at the beginning Harry, had realized, belatedly, he had made a mistake in answering her. She had taken his responses, non-committal as they were, as his enjoyment of her conversation and had talked for three hours before she had been distracted by the lunch that was brought to them.

Fortunately for Harry, the lunch seemed to make the lady sleepy and she had spent most of the last few hours of the flight sleeping. Which meant he was able to take a nap as well._ 'Here's hoping Mr. Granger's advice on sleeping through the flight will help me get used to St Louis time.'_

Harry tried to lean back into a more comfortable position. The process was foiled by the 10 year old in the seat behind him who decided to kick the back of his seat until it was fully vertical again. Harry sighed loudly and pressed his hands against his eyes. Maybe he could just curl up instead...

_'I should have just taken on my feline form and shipped myself with Hedwig...'__  
_  
The kid behind him violently kicked the seat again and Harry snapped. Spinning in the seat, he turned to face the boy, his eyes glowing a fierce bloody red, and growled low in his throat. The boy whimpered and slouched in his seat, eyes locked on the floor. The kid's Mother never looked up from her book.

*******~*~*~*~St. Louis Airport, Several Hours Later~*~*~*~*******

  
Harry sighed and slumped down the wall and onto the pavement outside the airport. It had been a long flight, a long day, and a long time waiting for his bags at the turnstyle. The only good thing so far about the flight was Hedwig seemed fine, a little grumpy about being caged up for so long, but happy to once more be in the open air. Although the gasoline smell probably wasn't something she was enjoying. He certainly wasn't. All he had to do now was wait for one of the Zeeman's to pick him up.  
_  
__'I wonder which one will it be?'_

Harry was still thinking about his new family when Hedwig began hooting madly. He blinked rapidly and quickly turned towards her making 'shushing' sounds.

"Do you really think the owl will quiet down just because you asked her to?"

Harry looked up and up and up. The man standing in front of him was tall with broad shoulders and what Harry guessed was brown hair. With the man standing so that the sun was behind him it made it hard to make out color and the details of his face. Harry had to fight the instinct to kick the man in the knees and run. _'The war is over. . . calm down.'__  
_  
As if to spite the man, Hedwig went quiet and began grooming her feathers. Her eyes however, didn't leave the man.

The man chuckled. "Well, she certainly told me." The man dropped to his knees in front of Harry and stuck out his had. "Harry Potter?" Harry nodded slowly. "I am Richard Zeeman. I came to pick you up."

Harry shook the man's hand, stood up and brushed the back of his pants off. "You wouldn't mind showing ID would you? I have never seen a photo of you before, Mr. Zeeman."

The fact that Harry asked to see ID seemed to please the man. He pulled out his wallet and Harry was glad to see the man was who he said he was. Richard Zeeman.

"Thank you, Mr. Zeeman."

"It's not a problem, Harry. And you can call me Richard."

"Of course."

Harry gathered Hedwig while Richard picked up Harry's trunk. Harry couldn't help but watch Richard with a little wonder. If Harry hadn't known the man was a werewolf he never would have guessed._ 'He is very good at hiding the feel of magic that the curse leaves behind.'_

Harry watched a tall African-American man step out of the car Richard was walking toward and pop the boot of the car open. The two men worked quickly and easily together and Harry had to smile watching. It was obvious that the two knew each other well and that they respected each other. Harry glanced at the trunk wondering why it was taking so long to place his one piece of luggage inside. He blinked when he realized there were several other pieces of luggage already in the back.

"I arrived about an hour before you," Richard chuckled at the look on Harry's face. "My mother didn't think I should miss your arrival and had me fly all the way back from Tennessee."

"You didn't have-"

Richard cut Harry off with a wave of his hand. "It's not a big deal. I'll head back in a couple days, no problem."

"Do you live in Tennessee?"

"No. I live here in St Louis. I'm just in Tennessee to study the Trolls they have living wild in the forested areas."

"Trolls! Really? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not really. The ones I'm studying are pretty passive."

Harry shook his head, obviously not believing him. He had enough personal experience to know better than to just believe they couldn't be and weren't dangerous.

Richard must have noticed Harry's disbelief because he paused while opening the driver's side door. "It really isn't dangerous."

Harry looked at Richard and sighed, running hands through his already messy black hair. "You keep telling yourself that and when one decides you make good prey don't come and tell me."

"Harry, it really isn't-"

Harry cut Richard off. "I don't want to argue about it. We just met."

"Alright." Richard appeared to just brush the conversation off as he hopped into the SUV. Richard unlocked the other doors and slid back out of the front seat and popped the passenger side door at the back of the car open, moving to help Harry slide in Hedwig's animal carrier. When they were done Richard began the introductions.

"Harry, I would like to introduce you to a good friend of mine, Jamil. Jamil, this is the cousin I was telling you about, Harry Potter."

The man, Jamil, nodded at Harry and stretched his hand out. Harry nearly gasped when their hands met. Electric power surged up his arm, leaving warm tingles dancing all throughout his body, and embarrassingly down his trousers. Jamil was a werewolf. _'Maybe I should have realized he could have been one? St Louis is supposed to have a large werewolf population according to Mr. Granger.'_

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jamil."

Jamil's handshake was firm. A single dark eyebrow rose on the man's face. "You as well."

Richard then turned and nodded at the tall, well dressed Asian man. "This is another friend of mine, Shang-Da."

Harry nodded a silent greeting. The man did not look like he would welcome Harry's handshake as Jamil had. Still, Harry couldn't help but assess the man. He couldn't feel the energy but Harry could tell that this man was a werewolf as well. His aura just screamed predator.

With the greetings done, Jamil moved to get in the driver's side of the car. Richard ushered Harry into the back, closing the door for him before getting into the front next to Jamil. The silent Shang-Da took the seat next to Harry. Harry tried not to let his own power leak out as he pretended not to notice the two men were positioning themselves to protect Richard from Harry. _'Very interesting.'_

The drive wasn't too bad and Harry found himself staring out the window eagerly, watching the passing scenery. Everything was so different from Surrey.

"Are you hungry, Harry? We could stop and get something to eat?"

Richard was staring back at Harry from over the front seat. "I haven't got anything but British pounds, I'm afraid."

Richard chuckled, a deep rich sound. "Don't worry about that. I'll pick up the tab." When Harry got ready to protest, Richard simply shushed him as Harry had Hedwig earlier. "My mother would skin me alive if she thought I didn't feed you. It'll be a long ride to her house from here so if you don't want to eat that's fine, but I haven't had breakfast yet."

Harry shrugged and nodded leaving Jamil and Richard began discussing places to eat and Harry went back to watching the passing scenery.

***~*~*~*~Zeeman Household, Three Hours Later~*~*~*~*****  
**

"Mother, I brought you a gift!"

"Richard dear, did you pick up Harry alright?"

"Of course, Mother. I even fed him for you."

The woman that came to greet Richard reminded Harry very much of Molly Weasley. She had the same build and she exuded strength and seemed very much, from the small amount Harry had heard her say so far, as dominate in personality as Mrs. Weasley was.

Charlotte Zeeman turned and greeted Jamil before grabbing Harry and hugging until he began to turn blue. _'Oh yes, she is DEFINITELY just like Mrs. Weasley.'_

"How was your flight, Harry? Did everything go okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am. The flight was alright."

"Good. Now let me take a look at you." Mrs. Zeeman held Harry out at arms length, inspecting him. "Dear, you are skinny as a rake. My boy Richard did feed you didn't he?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. You could still use some fattening up though." Charlotte gave Harry another bone crushing hug before letting him go. "Come along, Harry. I'll introduce you to my other children and then we'll get you all settled in your room. How does that sound?"

"That sounds lovely, Ma'am."

"Harry dear, you're family. You don't have to keep calling me 'Ma'am.' You can call me Auntie if you'd like."

_'Family. She wants me to be family.'_ Harry smiled.

TBC…

**AN:** I will not tell the parts in St. Louis from Anita's view. I get so bored with how any crossovers always use that view. Think outside the box people, just 'cause the author of the series likes to write that way doesn't mean you have to.  
**AN:** so this new chapter 2 is a merger of the original chapters 3 - 5, with some new content. Still not a lot of major changes, those will likely start to show in chapter 3. Thanks again for staying with me as I revamp the story.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**: A Family Forgotten  
**Author: **Dreamwind  
**Rating:** R to NC-17

**Status:** WIP  
**Relationship: ****Harry/Jamil/Snape****  
****Characters:**Harry Potter, Charlotte Zeeman, Richard Zeeman, Jamil, Shag-Da, Vern  
**Word count: ****5871**  
**Disclaimer: ****I do not own the Harry Potter or Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books & movies. All rights and profits are property of J.K. Rowling, the Warner Brothers Studio and Laurell K Hamilton.**  
**Genre: **Horror/Suspense, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Action/Adventure  
**Tropes: ****powerful!Harry, creature!Harry**  
**Warnings:** slight Anita bashing, AU, M/M, slash, threesome, angst, violence, language

**Universe/Series:** Harry Potter Novels/Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novels

**Timeline:** Post DH for Harry Potter, minus the Epilogue; Before & during Blue Moon for ABVH series  
**Additional Pairings: ****Anita/Jean-Claude**, Anita/Richard  
**Summary: **[HP/ABVH Crossover] The war is finally over and Harry finally thinks he's free. But with power that wasn't his comes many problems including the revealing of family that he never knew he had. How can he deal with new family, vampires, necromancers, were's and of course the truth about Snape and the night on the astronomy tower.

**Chapter 3****  
**

**August 7th, 1998; 7am, Zeeman Household**

Harry awoke from a sound, peaceful sleep. It surprised him every morning that he hadn't yet had a nightmare. After so many years of nightmares and terrifying visions of the Dark Lord it was an unsettling thing almost. Still, Harry couldn't help but smile.

Voldemort was dead, he had escaped the most recent ministry plot, he had a place that he could call home and most importantly he had family. Everything he had ever dreamed of since he was a child, and it was all right here. His.

Harry laughed, rolling across the bed, the blankets wrapping in a tangled net about him. The bed slid beneath him and with a thud Harry found himself on the floor.

A knock at the door sounded and Harry looked towards the door trying to decide how best to get out of the mass of blankets before any of his new family saw him. Unfortunately luck wasn't with Harry this morning and Charlotte walked in.

"Umm...Good morning..." Harry blushed Gryffindor red all the way to the tips of his ears.

"Good morning, Harry." Charlotte smiled down at him. "A bit tangled up aren't you? Well budge over a bit and I'll help get you free." Charlotte moved towards him as a thoroughly mortified Harry began frantically trying to free himself.

"It's okay, really! I can get myself out."

Charlotte smiled down at him, but didn't stop trying to help Harry free himself. Within a few quick tugs and rolls, Charlotte had him free from the tangled bed-sheets. She patted his head affectionately, saying, "don't take too long...breakfast is waiting for you downstairs..." before heading out of the room.

Harry stood up and brushed himself off. Today was going to be a big day. He was overly excited to see his cousin Richard again. It had nothing to with Mr. Tall, dark and sexy. Nothing at all.

He was a bit jumpy about the prospect of spending more time in Richard's company, mostly because he still hadn't decided how to approach the whole werewolf issue. 'Do I admit I know? Or do I wait for Richard to bring it up? What if Richard's family doesn't know he is a werewolf?'

Harry ran his hands through his already messy hair. 'Damn, but this is sooo fucking messed up. I think just waiting is probably the safest bet but I really want him to know that I know. That I won't think any less of him or Jamil because of what they are. Argh..just forget it, whatever happens will happen!'

With that settled in his mind, he pulled the green jumper over his head and practically shoved himself into his jeans before heading down the stairs to the kitchen. Perhaps the issue would resolve itself for him and make his life just a tiny bit easier.

Harry snorted at the thought. If he had learned anything in his short life it was the universe delighted in making his life as complicated as possible.

**~*~*~*~2 hours later~*~*~*~****  
**  
Harry could hardly sit still. Richard would be here any minute now. It was all very exciting and new for Harry. He now had a family that welcomed him with love, who didn't try to hide him away whenever anyone came by the house. Who gladly took him out with them whenever they had to go somewhere, even if it was just down the street to the grocery. And now Richard was taking him to the zoo! Then it was off to dinner with Richard and he wasn't just a tag along who was only going because no-one else could take him. He was going because someone WANTED to take him!

There was a small sound of breaking glass and Harry whipped his head around. The small glass candy dish that had been sitting on the coffee table next to Harry had shattered.

'Bloody Hell! Thank Merlin no one else is in here with me. I must be seriously leaking magic! Alright, Harry, calm and center...calm and center.' Little by little Harry's magic pulled itself back into his core, his shields drawing closed around it. It wouldn't do for any of the dark witches and wizards of Saint Louis to sense his presence.

A quick Reparo fixed the dish and Harry was again left vibrating in place with his eagerness to just get up and go. Every instinct he had was jumping around on overdrive, making him feel like an excited cub again. It had been so long since he had been able to just relax and be himself that he wasn't quite sure how to behave. He had never really had the chance to just be a cub.

The sound of a car alarm beeping brought Harry out of his reverie.

Richard had arrived.

Harry was out of the chair and at the door before anyone else in the house was able to get out of their seats in the kitchen. Harry flung open the door, obviously startling Richard. The taller man looked down at him in shock, before his face split wide in a grin. "A bit excited are we?"

Harry was practically jumping in place. He didn't even care if Richard was making fun of him. "Can we go now? Will it take long to get there? What kind of animals do they have?"

Richard quickly put his hand over Harry's mouth stopping the babble of questions spewing forth from his young cousin. He could feel Harry smile beneath his hand. His green eyes were sparkling up at him and Richard couldn't help but feel warmth fill his soul as he looked into those eyes.

Something about his young cousin pulled at every protective instinct he had, even the wolfs. It had scared him that first night when Harry arrived. But now...now he found it almost comforting knowing that his wolf could feel something so incredibly gentle toward another.

"If you don't calm down, I'll have to leave you here. Can't have you running around scaring the animals, now can we?"

Harry pulled Richard's hand from his face. "I can do calm, really. I'm just excited. I've only ever been to the zoo once and we didn't get to stay very long."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Dudley got into one of the snake cages and my uncle got really mad."

Richard just nodded, not sure what to make of the story. Something told him that wasn't even close to the whole truth of the matter. "Well then, we had best get in the car before Jamil comes looking for us."

"Jamil is coming too?"

Richard nodded and smiled, leading Harry toward his car. He could see Jamil through the window obviously getting ready to come out after them. The dark wolf had also shown signs of the protective instinct that Richard had been feeling. The very fact Jamil was experiencing the same feeling pleased Richard in ways he didn't quite understand yet.

However, Harry's fascination with his Skoll did worry him a bit. Harry just seemed so naive while Jamil...well he was a great guy but was very dominate and a bit rough around the edges. Not really the type of personality Richard thought Harry should be focusing on. He firmly told himself, he wasn't disturbed by his cousin's crush on Jamil or jealous of his obvious affection...he knew Harry cared for him as much as he could...after all the young man had only known him a few short days...give it time.

Harry greeted Jamil with the same enthusiasm he had Richard. He couldn't help it. These two men had been unfailingly kind to him, they didn't ask Harry anything that he didn't want to answer and they talked to him as if he were truly a member of the Zeeman family and their friend. The only other people to ever do that for him were the Weasleys. It was heart-warming knowing that his family was growing.

It also didn't hurt that one of these new friends was rather fetching to look at.

**~*~*~*~St. Louis Zoo~*~*~*~****  
**  
Jamil watched the young man that was his Ulfric's cousin. He was still trying to figure out what that strange electrical surge up his arm had been the first time he had met Harry Potter. He didn't think the boy was a lycanthrope, but he wasn't positive. Something about him kept screaming 'animal'! It made him a bit wary. He liked the boy, felt protective of him even, and that made him even warier. The boy seemed so innocent and yet there were brief glimpses of a damaged child that showed up in his eyes every now and then.

"Jamil!" He looked down at his hand, startled. That same electrical shock flowed from the palm of his hand up his arm. The boy, Harry, was holding it, tugging him forward. "Come on! We're almost at the Reptile House!"

Jamil internally sighed and let himself be pulled forward into the Reptile House, past a smirking Ulfric. It was going to be a long day, he was certain.

"So, Harry," Richard asked calmly, "you mentioned that you got to go to the zoo in London?"

"Yeah, with the Dursley's. They were taking Dudley to the zoo for his birthday. Ms. Figg, she lived down the way from the Dursley's, couldn't watch me for them so they had to take me with them," Harry said blandly, like it was something that commonly happened to him and not worth getting upset about.

Richard looked saddened at what his cousin was saying and Jamil could understand why. What the boy said and what he didn't say kept painting a bad picture of his other relatives. Jamil turned back to look at Harry who was now standing in front of one of the cages watching a rather attractive blue-gray snake. He was smiling and making 'hissing' noises at the snake who was raised up in what looked like an attack position. The snake was swaying and seemed to be 'hissing' back at Harry. It looked to Jamil as if the snake and Harry were holding a conversation.

"The snake seems to like you, Harry."

Harry smiled back at Richard and Jamil. "Yeah. She seems like a nice snake."

Jamil cocked his head to the side. "Do you like snakes?"

"Yes. I was thinking about maybe getting a degree in Herpetology at some point. There are a lot of snakes that are going extinct and no one really cares because snakes are seen as 'evil' creatures by so many people just because of some stupid religion that was written centuries ago."

Richard watched his cousin carefully. "You aren't very religious are you?"

"I have nothing against religion. I just think that people make too much of it. They forget what they praise as the 'Word of God' was written by men. Men aren't infallible. What they would personally or culturally consider as 'bad' or 'evil' could easily have been added in by them. And they could have easily done so saying God thought this was a sin and that made you evil and no one would question it." Harry ran his hand through his hair and moved away from the Bolkar Viper cage. "This doesn't mean I don't believe there is a God. It just means I'm not willing to simply take the words of men long dead as being the Word of God."

"That's quite an adult view. I don't think I have ever heard someone speak of religion quite in that way."

Harry shrugged and moved in front of the cage holding the Northern Death Adder. "I think that as long as we treat each other with respect and love and we help those who need it, God would still see us as good people." Harry again smiled and paused to hiss at the snake that had quickly moved to the front of the cage.

"Someone once told me that when they looked at religion closely they could see only one true message and that it could easily be found in almost every religion on the planet. But because of everything that men had built up, the message God first gave us and the message people now hold as truth aren't the same. The Message and the Word are not the same."

Jamil was more than surprised by the boy. He sometimes seemed like two people the way he could go from innocent and naive boy to an intelligent and insightful young man. And standing before them, seeming to be talking to a rather venomous snake, was that intelligent and insightful young man.

Harry looked up at the two of them, his eyes intense and rather sad. "Can we not talk about this anymore."

"Of course." Richard wrapped his arm around the younger man's shoulders. "Why don't we finish looking through the snake house then stop for lunch before looking around the rest of the zoo?"

Harry smiled a small but real smile. "Let's."

**~*~*~*~Several Hours Later~*~*~*~**

The three were back in the car happily exhausted after a full day of walking all over the zoo. Richard had to admit he had never enjoyed the zoo quite as much as he had today. Harry had opened up and shared more of himself with him and even with Jamil. That really made him smile.

Harry seemed to be able to get the stoic wolf to open up a bit as well. A month ago he never would have allowed a stranger to grab a hold of him as he let Harry do. All and all Harry seemed to be easing into life with his family in such a manner that people weren't always aware they were growing more fond of him by the minute. Of course his Mother had loved the boy from the moment she laid eyes on him.

He chuckled fondly at the memory. Every time he saw the two of them together, his mother was smiling and hugging Harry. Harry had quickly become the youngest Zeeman boy in his mother's eyes. He wouldn't want to be anyone threatening Harry if his mother was around. Of course, he had noticed the same loving and protective look in Harry's eyes. It was obvious the boy wouldn't let anyone hurt Charlotte Zeeman.

Things were definitely going good in his life for once.

**~*~*~*~*That Night*~*~*~*~***

That night while laying in bed, Harry thought back to earlier in the day. He had never had quite so much fun spending time with family like he had with Richard. It left him a bit shaky, waiting for the other shoe to drop as Hermione used to say. Whenever he had something good going on in his life, something bad always came up and ruined it.

Harry tugged on his dark locks, frustrated. 'What will it be this time that ruins everything? Will Richard not want me around if he knows that I know about him? Will who and what I am be the cause? Or will some outside force cause them to abandon me?'

Harry rolled over, smothering himself in his pillow. 'Just once it would be nice if I could have a more normal life, without insane megalomaniacs with god complexes out to kill me, ridiculous Ministry plots or rabid fangirls slipping love potions into my food and drink.' Harry rolled back, closed his eyes and began to count Crumple Horned Snorkacks.

Dawn wouldn't come soon enough.

**~*~*~*~The Next Day~*~*~*~**

While nothing bad had happened since he had met his new family, Harry was still on edge. He was just so used to people trying to secretly guide him on paths of their choosing or outright forcing him into a corner. He began to worry they didn't want him, that maybe they didn't like or trust him. Was this why Richard hadn't told him about himself yet?

'I thought for sure I had dropped enough hints about what I am they would catch on without me having to drop enough of my shields for them to test my magic again. Jamil and Shang-da have both felt my magic, hell Jamil even watched me talk with snakes at the zoo!'

Harry went back to trying to read his book. It had been one of Hermione's muggle fantasy novels and he had been enjoying it until his brain decided to take over and force him to look back at all the questions and fears that had been cropping up since he first met the Zeeman family.

He tried to tell himself Richard must like him if he was willing to take him to the zoo and let him meet some of his friends. Admittedly Shang-da, when they first met, seemed overly indifferent about him but Jamil had seemed to like him. They had talked with him while they had all sat at the table in a restaurant Richard liked after they left the Zoo. Harry was fairly certain it was a lycanthrope restaurant and for the whole time they were there, he had been on the edge of his seat waiting for Richard to broach the topic of what he was and what Harry was. But it never happened.

"He must not trust me enough to tell me."

Harry forlornly ran his fingers over the yellowed pages of his book, 'Magic's Pawn.' "Maybe he's waiting for me to show him that I trust him by telling him the truth about myself."

Nodding with a new resolution Harry went back to reading. He knew what he needed to do.

~*~*~*~Dinner Later That Night~*~*~*~

Dinner was a quiet affair tonight. Just his aunt, uncle and himself. The rest of the family were off doing various other things with their own families and friends. It was nice actually. Before, when everyone had been here it had always felt like dinner at the Gryffindor table.

Boys reaching wildly across the table, grabbing food from the platters as well as each others plates. It was some kind of food free-for-all battle, and Harry never won. Admittedly, he'd never had as much of an appetite as other boys his age. Living with the Dursley's for so many years had caused his stomach to shrink. In all honesty, it always surprised him that he hadn't starved to death.

'I suppose those potions I was given were good for one thing at least. Although, I doubt that even now Snape would ever believe that I could brew a decent Nutrient Potion.'

Harry put his fork down next to his plate and just watched his food for a moment. "Aunt Charlotte–"

"Harry–"

The two looked at each other. Small amused smiles spreading across their faces. "What were you going to say, Auntie?"

Charlotte chuckled softly before once again smiling at her nephew. "Well, I was going to say, your Uncle and I were going to go on a little vacation down to the Keys for a week." Charlotte smiled adoringly at her husband. "He got the two tickets and a hotel as a bonus for all his hard work from his company."

Harry smiled over at his uncle, who was now blushing madly. "Congrats, Uncle!"

He coughed, clearing his throat. "Thank you, Harry. However since we aren't going to be here we wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind staying with Richard while we're gone? He will be flying back to Tennessee tomorrow afternoon. If you would like to go with him, we can get you a plane ticket tonight, otherwise we can arrange for you to stay with one of the other boys?"

Harry couldn't help but start laughing. In fact he was laughing so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. Gasping, Harry said "I was going to ask you if I could go stay with Richard for a few days."

"Well then, things seem to be working out for all of us," Charlotte said smiling.

After that the rest of dinner went by in contented conversations. Charlotte and her husband telling Harry story after story about their kids and all they would get up to as children (and even as adults).

It was a good night. Everything was going just as he planned.

**~*~*~*~*8 pm the Next Day*~*~*~*~**

The drive from the airport out to the cabins they would be staying in was a long one and Harry found himself practically vibrating with the energy he was trying to suppress. The day was going to be a keystone in his life. Richard would either accept what Harry knew about him and his feelings on the matter or not, just as he would when Harry explained what he was and his full history. He just hoped his cousin would still care for him as much as he did now. The Zeeman family had spoiled him with all their love and affection. It would be hard to stand if they turned away from him.

'They won't turn me away.' Harry firmly told himself as he pulled his glasses off and wiped them clean on his shirt. 'They still love Richard, so they will still love me.'

"Are you doing alright back there?" Richard asked interrupting his introspection.

"I'm fine." Harry reassured him.

"Are you sure? You look a bit green." Richard persisted, a bit concerned.

Harry smiled. "Yeah. I'm just not used to being in a car for this long."

Richard nodded at him, his eyes a little sad. "Alright. It won't be much longer." He smiled at him again before turning back toward the front. "We're only a few minutes from the cabins. You see that road just off to the right?" Richard pointed a few feet up the road. "That's the turnoff to get to Vern's cabins."

Harry leaned closer to the window. He could just make out the turn his cousin was talking about. It wasn't much more than a dirt road surrounded by trees.

It took only minutes to go from the main road, down the turn off, to the cabins. As they pulled up in front of the cabins, Harry could see that Shang-Da was already there, another man standing at his side. Harry smiled, unbuckling himself and practically shooting out of the car like one of the Weasley twin's rockets. He had been too long cooped up.

Richard and Jamil were more sedate about getting out of the vehicle. Stretching his arms up above his head, Richard moved away from the car to where Harry was standing. Richard smiled back, his hand running through Harry's messy hair. "Hey there kiddo, in a bit of a hurry?"

"We've been in the car forever," Harry said blushing, hiding his face in Richard's chest.

Richard chuckled. Behind him Jamil smirked and Shang-Da simply raised one dark eyebrow.

"Forever, huh? I don't remember the car ride being that long."

Harry groaned and pulled out of Richard's grasp.

Vern and Shang-Da watched Harry and Richard tease each other as the Sköll just smiled in the background. When finally Jamil managed to get the two cousins focused again Vern, was simply smiling widely at the two, his eyes filled with humor. Richard coughed into his hand and pushed Harry toward the other Ulfric. The two nodded politely, greeting him with friendly silence.

Richard ran his hands gently through Harry's dark locks, quietly steering him toward the cabins. Vern followed at his side chatting quietly about banal matters without specifically mentioning the pack. Harry listened carefully trying to piece together why his cousin was here in another pack's territory.

From what little he knew about werewolves they didn't typically enter another's territory like this. The man, Vern, was powerful. Easily as powerful as Richard. He had never seen two wolves so powerful in the same place before. Jamil and Shang-Da were powerful but not on the same level that he could feel radiating from Richard and Vern. They made their way through the parking lot, skirting the edge of a lush forest to where the cabins were.

"I have kept your cabin for you. Same as before." Vern glanced over at Harry, his gaze trying to stare into the core of Harry, fighting to see what and who Harry really was. How dangerous a threat he could be. "Do you want a second cabin for the kid or is he going to share yours?"

"I think he'll be okay in his own." Richard smiled at Harry. "Not the type for wild late night parties, I think."

Harry rolled his eyes at the two Alphas. Really it was going to be ridiculous trying to pretend not to be what they were and still get down to whatever business they had together. This was going to be far too stressful for everyone, just trying to pretend they weren't what they were. Harry was tired of pretending to be one thing when he was something else. He wanted to be normal, but he accepted that he did not fit the average person's definition of what normal was. He was not a normal human. He was not a normal wizard. He was not even a fully normal Nex Coma. But he was normal for Harry Potter and that was all that really mattered. Whether or not Richard or anyone else believed that…well, Harry would deal with it as it came.

"Well, Harry," Richard said, startling Harry from his thoughts, "Why don't I show you to your room."

Harry nodded, grinning as he followed Richard to the cabin Vern had given him to use.

Richard led Harry past several other cabins to a small wooden cabin next to his own, only a few feet from the edge of the forest. Inside, the bedroom was only a little bigger than the bedroom he had been moved into at his Aunt Dursley's house after his Hogwart's letter had arrived.

'It's a hell of a lot nicer though,' Harry mused as he looked around the room taking in the large picture windows looking out onto the forest.

Harry noted absently that there were cream-colored blinds on each of the two large windows as well as some thick royal blue drapes. The floor was a rich golden hardwood. The dresser and the bed were both made out of the same wood as the floors. The bed wasn't a four-poster like he was used to. In fact, it looked as if it had been hand carved from the trees outside. On it was a blue and gold quilt with a nice fluffy pillow set against lighter gold sheets. Stretching out from under the large bed was a thick blue, gold and green carpet. There was a little table on both sides of the bed. On one of them was a small green glass table lamp.

Harry turned, smiling at Richard as he and Jamil gently put Harry's trunk down at the foot of the bed. "This is great. Thanks."

"Not a problem, kiddo." Richard reached out and ruffled Harry's hair, making Harry sigh and try to flatten it again. "What would you like for dinner tonight?"

Harry shrugged and headed out of the room and made for the ground floor. "I'm not sure. Can I think about it?" He asked quietly.

"Sure," Richard answered lightly, noticing the almost hesitant look on his cousin's face. Harry was obviously thinking about something.

Richard noticed that Harry seemed to have come to a decision. His green eyes getting a sharp glint in them, a strength that Richard hadn't seen in them before. "Richard? Can I talk with you?"

"Of course. You can talk to me about anything," Richard assured him.

Harry nodded and looked briefly at the other men in the room then said in a rush, "I know you're a werewolf."

Richard blinked, sitting down heavily on the bed. Jamil and Shag-Da also seemed startled even though their reactions weren't as obvious as their Ulfric's.

"How?" He asked in a hushed voice.

Harry walked over slowly and carefully sat down next to Richard. "I knew the moment we met. I recognized the feel of the magic coming off you."

"What? But how...?" Richard blurted still shocked and definitely confused.

"One of my dad's friends was a werewolf. We met when I was thirteen at my school. That's when I found out about him," Harry explained.

"Why did you meet him so late in life if he was a friend of your fathers?" Jamil asked.

Harry looked at Richard and nodded. If he was going to do this right he would have to share equally. "The answer to that is long. It starts years ago. When I was just a baby." Harry tilted his head and looked at all three wolves. "We gonna let Vern in on this? I don't want to piss in his pool or anything."

Richard made a choking sound. "Where did you learn that?"

Harry shrugged. "Daniel."

"I'm going to have a talk with that boy." Richard looked back at Harry, taking in the serious expression on the young man face. "Is this something he should know?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe not all of it, but yeah."

Richard nodded and shot a look over his shoulder at Jamil. The dark wolf nodded and left the room to find the local Ulfric. It only took about three minutes for the two wolves to return, but for those three minutes the cabin was silent. Vern gave him a strange penetrating look but leaned against the wall, watching and listening.

"The first thing you need to know is that Magic is real. I'm not talking about the piddly little Wiccan crap or the sensitive or the fucked up Necromancers calling themselves 'animators.' I mean REAL magic. World altering, mind bending Magic."

Richard gave him a strange look. "Doesn't sound like you think much of the other practitioners?"

"I don't think much of them because they don't have a full understanding of what they are doing. They're like a blind person trying to paint a sunset. They can't see what they are using, not all of it, so they make shortcuts to get the results they want, skipping all the safety that real practitioners learn in school. They don't understand the ramifications what can happen if they lose control, if they cast one spell wrong. They are dangerous even if power-wise they are no better than an omega."

Harry rubbed his eyes. "However, they are more specialized in what little magic they are able to utilize. So if they are smart enough, they are still dangerous enough to any Muggle, a normal non-magical human."

"If I might interject?" Vern gave Harry a searching look. "You mentioned school. Are you saying real Witches attend a school? Some kind of formal education just for Magic?"

"That is exactly what I am saying. Although to be correct, a Witch is the term for a female magic user. A man is referred to as a Wizard."

Vern nodded and motioned for Harry to continue.

"These Magic users live in communities, cities made up entirely of Wizards and Witches. They have their own governments and law enforcements. Even here in the states where the population is so small. But they are still more powerful, more dangerous than you can understand. They can do things the specialized practitioners can't," Harry explained.

"When I was a baby there was a prophecy made about a Dark Lord…a Wizard so powerful and dangerous that people were even terrified to say his name. Can you imagine what Hitler would have been capable of if he could control the minds of his victims, if he could make them experience a pain so terrible it would shatter their minds so they could barely drool on their own, and if he could kill them with just a word and then raise their corpse to slaughter the rest of their families."

Harry looked away from them, his eyes filled with horrors and ghosts. "My parents were killed by a Dark Wizard called Voldemort. He was the Wizarding World's Hitler. After he killed them he tried to kill me, but the Magic didn't work and it destroyed his body. But it didn't kill him." Harry licked his lips and looked back up at the others.

"Two people who knew my parents, left me with the Dursleys, my mother's sister's family, because of a protection spell based on the blood I shared with my aunt. These two people never told anyone, including my father's friend, Remus, where I was in case the Dark Wizard's minions followed him to find me."

Harry paused a moment to catch his breath then continued, "Remus became my teacher at a school I attended from the age of eleven. It wasn't until the end of that school year, that I and my friends, H-H-Hermione and Ron, were trapped outside the school with Remus during a full moon." He paused again shakily, worried what Richard was thinking.

The three werewolves actually looked both angry and terrified for him all at once.

"No one was hurt and Remus quit after that incident. The whole thing scared him. He told me that S-S-Sirius and I were all that was left of his pack..." He tried to go on but was interrupted.

"Who is Sirius?" Richard asked.

"Sirius was my Godfather."

Richard looked curious. "Was?"

"He died when I was fifteen."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Harry looked sad, his eyes haunted briefly as he remembered. "Remus didn't have a pack otherwise. He said that he wasn't willing to serve the only Ulfric in all of England and Scotland. He said he would rather be without a pack."

"Why wouldn't he want to be part of the pack?" Richard asked confused.

"You need to understand what it's like for werewolves in Britain. They aren't like they are here. They are where all the horror stories come from. They have no control over the change, they hunger for human flesh. They have no control of themselves during the full moon, they truly become monsters." Harry paused again. "The Ulfic of Britain is a man named Fenrir Greyback. Remus told me he was the one who made 80% of the current werewolves in Britain."

All four werewolves looked truly shocked. How could one werewolf make so many?

"Fenrir would purposely place himself near homes and campers, especially if there were children around." Harry looked at his cousin then, eyes even more haunted than before. "Fenrir could clinically be classified as a sadist and a pedophile. Remus was one of those children Fenrir went for."

The room was swallowed in silence for a long time. No one was quite sure how to respond to everything Harry had said so far. To know there was a pack so twisted it was hard to conceive of. It was a lot to take in. Due to his past experience, the four wolves were in fact worried Harry was telling them this because he was afraid. Was this some kind of warning to them?

"You can stop thinking whatever it is you're thinking!" Harry snapped, glaring at them. "I'm not saying that I'm scared of you or any other such nonsense. I'm just trying to tell you what my world was like before I came here. I certainly know werewolves can be both good or bad. If I thought any of you were like Fenrir Greyback, I never would have let you take me from the airport," Harry huffed. "Bloody Americans."

"You don't care that..." Richard halted, licking his lips, "...that we're monsters?"

"IF you were monsters, I wouldn't care. But none of you are monsters, Richard. You aren't any more of a monster than I am." A dark laugh escaped him. "I'm more of a monster than you will ever be."

Richard grabbed Harry by the shoulders, forcing Harry to face him. "Harry you aren't a monster. I don't know why you'd think that but you aren't..." he started to say, urgently before Harry interrupted him.

"I am!" He glared into Richard's eyes with bitter anger. "I am! I killed them! They all died because I'm a freak!" Harry shouted, beginning to tremble. "A freak even among other freaks!"

Richard stared wide-eyed at his cousin. Tears had begun to form in Harry's eyes. "Harry…"

"It's my fault…" Harry choked, dissolving into grief-stricken sobs.

"Oh, Harry," Richard murmured, comfortingly as he pulled the sobbing teen to his chest, wrapping his arms around the shaking body. "I promise you aren't a monster," Richard said softly as he stroked Harry's hair. "I've seen monsters and you most certainly aren't one of them. I don't know why you think you are, but I promise even if you were, I'd still be here."

Minutes passed while Harry stayed wrapped in Richard's arms. Eventually his wild sobbing eased to soft hiccuping tears. Richard continued to hold him whispering soothing words into his hair until the boy began to calm.

Jamil and Shang-Da watched, their beasts stirring under their skin, aching to get out and attack whatever was hurting the pup. Their Ulfric's pup was hurting and every instinct they had told them to protect. No pup of their pack would get hurt while they watched. It was an irrational, instinctive urge and they knew it. Unfortunately, the one that had hurt the pup wasn't here. This was an old wound that had not yet healed.

"You okay now, Harry?" Richard asked, his voice soft and soothing on Harry's frazzled nerves.

Harry nodded.

"Good," Richard said loosening his grip on Harry. "If you want to talk about it, I will listen and so will Jamil and Shang-Da. Hell,...," Richard chuckled, "...so would Vern if you gave him a chance."

"Really?" Harry asked in a hoarse voice,

"Really."

Harry nodded obviously thinking. "I'm a wizard," he finally blurted out.

The three wolves blinked. "We gathered that from what you already told us," Richard said, carefully.

"I'm a wizard but not like most others. Fate has played a large part in my life," Harry told them, which started a confab that lasted long into the night.

Over those many hours, the four learned many things about each other's worlds... the things they were and what they could do. And, for the first time, Harry and Richard began to feel truly comfortable with their world and with themselves. Now all that was left, was for Harry to gather the last of his courage and tell Richard the rest of the truth of his past.

tbc…

**AN:** So here is the revised Chapter 3. This new chapter is comprised of the old chapters 6 - 8.  
**AN2:** Please beware that there are mentions of religion in this chapter and you may be offended by my comments on it. It is not meant to be personally offensive to anyone or any specific religion.


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